If you believed that the most powerful people in the world were working together to sell children as sex slaves, wouldn’t you want to do everything you possibly could to stop them? Would you tell everyone you know about these heinous acts? Would you cut off friends and family members who discounted your sincerely held beliefs? Would you even consider acts of political violence against those you consider to be responsible? It may seem like the only moral solution to you. Now what if the entire basis for your belief was fundamentally not true? Would you believe those who tried to tell you everything you thought you knew was a lie? This is the problem at the heart of the QAnon conspiracy theory. By now, a significant share of the American population is aware of this idea, but many have still never heard of it (or have ignored it). But like a virus, this nefarious conspiracy theory has infected large groups of Americans, leading many to attend the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. The QAnon conspiracy has found a welcome home among many conservative circles, but it has even permeated some unexpected places like yoga studios. This week, we’ll explain the QAnon conspiracy theory and why it has been able to draw so many people into its web of lies.
But First, Let’s Explain Some Key Phrases
You’ll want to know the following as these are clear indicators that someone is talking Q nonsense.
Banking cabal = You may hear people talking about a sinister cabal of bankers and global elites. This is actually an anti-Semitic trope that has been used for centuries. Most conspiracy theories involve blaming rich banking officials (some of whom were actually Jewish). The people repeating this phrase might not know it, but die-hard followers know this is a code word for Jewish people.
Great Awakening/ The Storm = These both refer to an overall uprising of Q followers who finally wake up to the truth and begin acts of violence to support former president Trump.
Day of the Rope = This is the phrase that many Q followers have used to refer to the day when Trump declares martial law and they can begin mass executions and hangings of Democrats and anybody who defies their rule. (No, I’m not making this up.)
Trust the Plan = This is the mantra that Q followers keep telling themselves every time one of the “predictions” of Q inevitably turns out to not actually happen.
WWG1WGA = “Where we go one, we go all.” It’s meant to be a rallying cry about how Q followers aren’t sheep like everybody else. But that phrase seems kinda sheepish…
I never miss an opportunity to post Pink Floyd memes.
What is QAnon All About?
This all started with, what else, the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Following the defeat of Hillary Clinton, posts began to surface on the internet messaging board website 4chan. (Which already had a reputation for being one of the worst places on the internet.) In these posts, a random person going by the name Q claimed to be a top secret intelligence official (with Q level clearance) who had inside information about a secret plan by then-president Donald Trump to destroy the enemies of America. These enemies, it turns out, are a massive group of hundreds of high-ranking Democrats, media operatives, and government employees who are all Satanist cannibals who eat and sell children in a global sex-trafficking operation. (Yes, you read that correctly). In their minds, Donald Trump would soon declare martial law and arrest people like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and George Soros. Then Trump, who is apparently anointed by God, would rule the United States as a utopian landscape for his followers. Though it started as a joke among the fringe elements of internet culture in 2017, by the end of 2020 it had amassed a following of millions. This is due in part to the complete failure of social media companies to moderate such content, but the isolation and economic hardship of the COVID-19 outbreak drew even more people into this group. Otherwise well-intentioned people would get drawn into the conspiracy with completely fabricated YouTube videos and an online media environment that dismisses honest journalism in favor of memes and echo-chamber algorithms.
So that sounds insane, right? Well, it often doesn’t start out that way. Like so many of the most intriguing conspiracy theories, you don’t get to the really wacky stuff until you’ve already started to buy into it. The Q followers will often start out by creating innocuous sounding groups like Save Our Children or host rallies to combat child abuse and sex-trafficking. Obviously, nobody in their right mind would want to support child abuse, but these groups are quick to replace the real problems behind abuse and trafficking with their own completely made-up theories. For example, the vast and overwhelming majority of child abuse cases happen within a child’s own home and a large share of the thousands of reported missing children cases that occur each year are actually relatively minor misunderstandings involving parental custody battles (like when a divorced parent takes the kids overnight even though it isn’t their weekend for visitation). This isn’t to say that child sex-trafficking isn’t a problem, but it’s not some ultra-secret initiative by Satan-worshiping Democrats. Keep in mind, people could barely keep Clinton’s promiscuous Oval Office behavior a secret, so it defies reason to think that (with the exception of this fictional Q person) all of the tens of thousands of elected officials, media personnel, and government employees who would need to be involved in this would all be able to keep such a disgusting secret.
But Wait, It Gets Worse
It would be one thing if this group simply wanted to end child abuse and sex-trafficking. Who wouldn’t want to do that?! But it doesn’t stop there. A fundamental part of this conspiracy is that former president Donald Trump is the only person who can save America from certain destruction. This has led to numerous acts of political violence and personal harassment, but it is also one of the reasons this is so difficult to counter. Many people are understandably frustrated with our current American politics and believe that (for all his faults) former president Trump was fighting for them. So when they hear that the election was actually stolen from them, it validates their frustrations and their worldview. The conspiracy theory persists even in the face of the objective and undeniable reality that Joe Biden is now the president and Donald Trump is completely removed from government. Their predictions about what will happen are always wrong and because of this they will never be satisfied with any outcome short of a full Trump dictatorship. Ask anyone who studies conspiracy theories and cults for a living and they will tell you that these groups nearly always double down even in the face of the obvious truth that they are wrong. The movement certainly took a hit when Joe Biden was peacefully inaugurated on January 20th, but the goal posts have already been moved. They now point to March 4th as the date when Trump will take back the presidency as that was once inauguration day (before this was changed in the 1930s). Like doomsday predictions throughout history, expect them to move the date again when their prediction fails.
So What Happens Now?
Fortunately, there are several factors that will help reduce the spread of this conspiracy and reduce the chances of further political violence. The FBI has fully denounced this movement and is working to prevent the violent aspects of this movement from engaging in further domestic terrorism. In addition, most social media sites have begun de-platforming these groups and no longer allow people to go down the internet rabbit hole into such bizarre conspiracies. It is important to note that this isn’t about free speech anymore. Nobody cared when far-right conservatives talked about lowering taxes or the deficit. This is about private companies and individuals preventing the spread of completely false ideas that have already resulted in the deaths of several individuals and have attempted to overthrow the government. The Q movement has blown well past the line of polite disagreement on political issues. This is the real life version of the tolerance paradox at work.
On a personal level, it is important to attempt to continue dialogue with those who believe in the Q conspiracy. Isolation and ridicule tend to only push people further into their safe spaces (a space which other Q followers are happy to exploit). The people who follow this conspiracy genuinely believe that they are trying to save children’s lives. If all of what they believed were true, their actions would be understandable. But the reality is that it just isn’t true. To date, there has been absolutely no credible evidence for their claims. It is a belief based on feelings and personal identity politics. And as we have seen over the past few years, no amount of facts or logic will change someone’s sincerely held belief.